#the rotate mouth 180 degrees

[mrbinglee]

love next door 엄마친구아들 title cards got me weeping. all of them but specifically the ones where the end is a simple transformation or play on words/sound of the beginning, and the specific change is part of the meaning in the context of the show like

미움 (hate) moving one brush stroke to become 마음 (mind/heart, and sure, love)

"go back" in english becoming 고백 in korean (confession; pronounced sort of like "go back")

암 (cancer) turning to 삶 (life; rhyming pronunciations with the same vowel sound)

and now 곰 (bear) rotating 180 degrees to become 문 (door) so "bear of the cave" becomes "mouth of the cave". the poetry i can't handle it

[conspicuous-clown-car]

small fnaf sb drabble

wrote this at like 3 am after imagining chica like one of those photos you see of cats where their eyes glow in the dark menacingly, then it slowly turned into...this lol

point of view is of my fnaf sb self insert, chica eats trash and feels bad, moon is a bastard but just wants to hang out with his friend.

i'm not a writer so keep that in mind, i just really wanted to get this idea out, and it would take too long in comic form

You walk down the second level hallway between Monty Golf and Kids Cove, heading towards Chica's Bakery. You fidget with the lanyard you're wearing, twisting the security badge around in your hand idly.

Hearing a suspicious sound of crunching in the distance, you pause, letting the badge fall against your shirt.

Your eyes dart around, and you slowly make your way towards whatever the noise is, attempting to keep yourself hidden. Right as you’re about to walk out from behind a food cart, the lights go out. ah, right. hourly recharge. 

You quickly peek your head out, trying to find what’s causing the noise, eyes straining as they get used to the dark. Your eyes widen seeing a figure that looks like Chica, hunched over a knocked over garbage bin……eating trash……

god, not again.

You stand up straight, and carefully walk closer, making sure not to trip on anything in the dim lighting. You do your best to make as little noise as possible with your footsteps, thankful that the carpet muffles most of it.

Finally, standing a good 5 feet behind her as she shovels garbage into her mouth, you just, pause. Contemplating why she’s still doing this after supposedly being “fixed” weeks ago. When and how did this behavior start? Why did they give her the need to eat in the first place? Why has management been ignoring this problem for so long?

and why……….why do you keep watching, this is disgusting.

You decide you’ve had enough of watching and listening to her shoving trash down her gullet, and move your hand past your jacket to silently unclip your flashlight from your belt.

Flashlight in your hold, you click it on and shine the light directly on her, informing her of your presence.

“Chica!”

The animatronic's head spins a whole 180 degrees towards you, body still facing away. You wince at the sight. She looks like a wild animal, her eyes reflecting the light of your flashlight, her mouth stuffed with trash from the garbage bin that she was clearly just eating out from. She looks sort of…aggressive? Like a pet getting caught eating something it knows it's not supposed to be eating.

You two stare at each other for a long awkward moment. 

When she finally relaxes a bit her eyes dart back and forth on you, surveying you

“Uh-“

Some chewed up mix of garbage falls out of her beak as her jaw moves

“…..Yes?”

You try not to laugh at that, stifling a smile and managing to keep a straight face. You lower the flashlight so that it's pointing to the floor, closing your eyes, you take in a deep breath. Your shoulders slack and you let out a long sigh, then look at her

“you know you’re supposed to be charging right now, right?”

She comically blinks out of synch, processing the information

“…Oh…oh!”

Chica jolts, and looks around as if she’s just now noticed the darkness the pizzaplex has been engulfed in

“Oh my gosh, you’re right!! Sorry! I just uh…..” 

She glances to the toppled over garbage bin, then back to you. Shrugging sheepishly, she lets out an embarrassed giggle

“……Got distracted?”

You huff and manage a smile, not really that upset with her eating habits, just a little concerned for her. You scratch at your face absentmindedly.

“it’s alright, just... get to the nearest charging station asap, yeah?”

She straightens up, her body rotating to face you. Her mood lifts a bit and she smiles, relieved that you aren’t reprimanding her for her strange habit. Despite that she still seems tense

“Yeah! Of course!”

She struts towards you, eyes lighting up the dark and casting a purple glow over you. Abruptly stopping herself from patting your shoulder, she frowns when realizing how much gunk is on her hands. You look up at her with a soft expression on your face.

"...hey, i'll help you clean up after my patrols if you want, okay?

Chica stays silent, lost in thought as she stares at her messy hand. Her eyes quickly dart between you and her hand for a moment. Then, catching up to the present, her eyes settle on you, and she smiles gratefully.

"...I would, really appreciate that, thank you"

You give her a small smile, and pat her clean arm wordlessly, an attempt to comfort her. It seems to lift her up, as she swiftly regains her peppy composure and remembers her current task

“Right! Charging! Sorry again, see you later, Krissy!”

she gestures a peace sign as she starts walking past you

“mhm, see ya”

You nod your head at the chicken, watching as she hurries towards what is hopefully a charging station, leaving you in the dark. But as she walks further in the distance, you see her form slouch a bit, as if in shame. It tugs at your heartstrings, and you wonder if this is starting to get a little out of control, this eating problem of hers. It’s clearly taking a toll on her, you can tell, no matter how much she tries to hide behind her enthusiastic nature.

You look over at the garbage bin on its side, ultimately deciding to let a staff bot handle it. There's no way you were touching garbage without gloves, and you cringe at the thought.

As your mind wanders you turn around and continue walking to your original destination, Chica’s Bakery. Knowing the path, you turn the flashlight off, keeping it in your hold just in case. You quite enjoy the darkness, along with the bright colors of the neon lights on the ceilings and walls, it's very peaceful. Lost in your thoughts as you continue making your way towards the bakery, only the muffled sound of your footsteps can be heard in the quiet empty pizzaplex.

That and the faint sound of bells.

You immediately freeze right outside the shutter doors, hair standing on edge at the noise. Your ears strain to listen for anything else as you stand completely still. The darkness around you is slowly lit with a red hue, and right behind you, you hear the sounds of something…mechanical.

You spin around and, not expecting Moons face to be inches from yours, you jump and flail backwards, cursing. You lose hold of your flashlight and it thuds on the carpet. How you didn’t feel him so close to you, you had no clue. His body is slouched low to the ground as he snickers at you. Your face feels warm, embarrassed by your reaction

“c'mon moon! the hell?”

You glare at him and ball your hands into fists at your sides, only slightly irritated at his amusement

His chuckling slows and quiets to a stop and he tilts his head, the action causing a creaking sound as he looks at you. god you gotta fix that.

“taking my job?”

His voice filled with mirth, and maybe a bit of mock irritation too. 

You lean over to grab your flashlight off the floor, keeping your eyes on him. Standing up straight attempting to regain your composure, you fail to process what he said

“huh?”

“Chica.”

He says plainly, casually taking a step towards you, still slouched. You don't understand where he's going with this, as he's purposely acting mysterious

“oh”

you say dumbly

“right, she was uh, just kinda there so i….sent her on her way?”

You shrugged awkwardly, thumb fidgeting with the grooves on the flashlight. You can't really tell if he's taking this conversation seriously or not.

Glowing red eyes seem to brighten as he stares at you, his body rigid as he shakes his head creepily.

“didn’t do it correctly.”

You squint at him, tilting your head in confusion.

“…didn’t-…..what do you mean?”

He glares, abruptly walking towards you, and you manage not to flinch. Yet your grip on the flashlight tightens.

“didn’t escort her to a charging station.”

He starts slowly circling around you, like a predator, keeping his gaze locked on you. You turn towards him, making sure to keep your eyes on him. You're really not in the mood for what you think he's planning.

“didn’t make sure she actually got to one.”

His hands twitch a bit, and you glance at them for a brief moment, trying to figure out if he's actually upset or not.

“well, isn’t that your job?”

you instantly regret the quick retort, mentally yelling at yourself for saying it ruder than you meant. wow! way to de-escalate the situation!

Moon stops walking, and just stares at you, alarmingly still. All you can do is look back into his red eyes as you attempt to control your breathing and keep your face emotionless.

Another moment goes by of staring at each other, then a reedy giggle bursts out of his voice box with a glitch. He covers his mouth with a hand -as if that would muffle it- and grips his stomach, his body shaking as if he’s actually laughing. You just stare at him as he laughs at you, wondering what's so funny.

He finally stops laughing and lets out a quiet sigh, mimicking wiping a tear from his eye while holding a hand to his chest. His faceplate quickly tilts toward you.

He lifts his hand, and calmly motions for you to come closer, holding it out as if he wants you to take it.

“c'mere.” 

You grip your flashlight to your chest with both hands, confused at the quick change, not fully trusting his intentions. You purse your lips and squint your eyes at him suspiciously.

“….why?”

He slowly moves a bit closer, crouching to your eye level, trying to appear less intimidating.

“come on...” 

His voice is softer, as if he genuinely means no harm. It could still be a trick though, you've fallen for this before. Stretching his arm towards you he motions again for you to take his hand.

You look down at his hand, then at him, then back at his hand, and think for a moment. You trust him, right?

You let out a sigh through your nose and cautiously lift your right hand.

Moon quickly shakes his head and waves his hand, and you ignore the fact that it slightly startled you. He then points to your left hand, the one that has the fazwatch on it. oh.

He holds out his hand again, and -after switching your hold of the flashlight to your right to make sure he doesn't take it- you carefully place your left hand on his, watching him to see if he'll try anything.

Smoothly shifting closer to you, he gently grabs your arm and gets up into your personal space. He brings your wrist and fazwatch close to his face, and starts fiddling with it. You relax a bit, relieved that he was just messing with you before.

Curious, you try to see what he’s doing as he taps his fingers on the screen, but his huge faceplate is blocking your view

“….what’re you…?”

“shhh...”

He quickly shushes you, faceplate spinning once, and the bell on the end of his hat hits your chest.

"hey!"

You scoff, feigning annoyance, despite it not hurting that much.

Moon hisses in response.

He stops tapping and stares at the screen for a second, then guides your arm up to your face with both hands so you could see what’s on the fazwatch. You wince at the bright screen, your eyes adjusted to the dark. Oh, it’s the useless map of the building you stopped using weeks ago, with...dots on it. Four to be exact, one red, one purple, one green, and one pink. The pink one was further away from the rest, not moving.

You quickly put together that these were the glamrocks in their green rooms, all charging. Except for Chica, who was still loitering in the atrium…ugh.

Moon points to the pink dot, his finger getting too close to your eyes for comfort.

“Chica.”

You bring your arm down to look at him, simultaneously getting his hand further away from your face.

“yea, she’s still not in a charging station...”

You sigh and look at the ceiling, dragging your right hand down the side of your face tiredly. You really were a babysitter to these four. At least now you'll always be able to see their locations on your fazwatch, that's helpful.

You realize Moon still has a hold on your arm as his hands start curling around it, and he gently tugs you closer, getting your attention back on him.

“come with me.”

You look at him for a moment, then turn your head toward the shutter door that separates you from the bakery. You had your own personal reasons for going there besides having to patrol…but...

One of his hands moves from your arm to your other shoulder and he pulls you even closer. He stand a little taller, so that his face is right in front of yours

“could be funny...”

You lift your eyebrows in interest, eyes darting to him for a second but you keep facing towards the shutter. Hmmm, knowing Moon, it could be funny…

“help me do my job?”

He requests, calling back your previous statement. Man he really wants you to come with him, huh?

“…hmmmmmmmmm....”

You draw out a long hum, and turn towards him somewhat, still not looking at him. You wait for whatever he’ll do to try and convince you to go with him.

Moon's hands squeeze you, he tilts his head to the side, and your eyes are immediately drawn to him.

“pretty please?”

ah shit, you can't say no to that

“....hmmmmmmm okaaay…”

You huff, reluctantly agreeing to accompany him.

You hear a mechanical rumbling noise coming from his chest, and he straightens his posture, looking pleased. His hand engulfs yours as he quickly grabs it, clearly thrilled to be able to spend time with you.

You roll your eyes and fail to hide a smile as he happily drags you through the dark building, away from Chica's Bakery.

[velnna]

It’s the cuddle anon from a few days ago asking for no reason what so ever, you said Staeve likes to big spoon now onto the next question! Is this man a ✨ pretty sleeper ✨ or open mouth, drool everywhere, snoring, makes the party debate on smothering him with one of the pillows? It’s for science 💅

Starts off as a pretty sleeper but as the night progresses mutates into the second one, somehow rotates 180 degrees in bed too

[boxturret]

Bohrok Pens Part 2: Beads and Charms

In this second installment of my coverage of the Bohrok pens I'd like to cover the pens themselves.

PART 1

PART 3

Just for some quick terminology, the Bohrok feature 3 colours and they will be referred to as such throughout this writeup:

Primary: For Tahnok this would be red, the colour used for the body and shields.

Secondary: For Tahnok this would be orange, the colour used on the limbs.

Tertiary: For Tahnok this would be blue, the colour of the eyes and Krana

The main defining feature of this pen system is the use of a set of interlocking beads and other decorative charms that use a thin metal rod that threads through the assembly to hold it together.

Due to the fixed length of the rod the number of charms you can use at one time is limited.

The pens come with many parts to swap out, but to start let's cover the most coveted one, the miniature Krana.

The Krana featured in the pens are roughly half the size of the real ones and are quite accurate, mainly just missing the eye holes. They're even made of a slightly rubbery plastic. Unlike real Krana the Mini Krana aren't randomised, the Tahnok pen always comes with a blue Krana-Za. This unfortunately means that Kranas Ja and Vu are not available as Mini Krana.

As opposed to the original Toa pens, where their small mask clipped on to a round bead, the Krana attach to a small charm styled after a Toa head in much the same way as the real ones can, using a small peg that fits in to the mouth of the head.

Now for the most important part, structurally, the Bohrok face shield charm, which features the thin metal rod.

This part is styled after the Bohrok face shield, but the pattern is printed on, rather than achieved by mixing clear and coloured plastic like in the real part. The part is articulated and can be flipped up to reveal the Krana, should you decide to place it there. In the downward position it can also function as the pen's clip.

The next charm is made to resemble two Bohrok limbs merged together. Its quite open and allows a view of the metal rod when used in the pen. Interestingly its made in the primary colour, instead of the secondary like the real sets. The Bohrok limbs wouldn't be appear in the primary colours until the Bohrok-Kal.

That concludes the charms, so now we move on to the various types of beads. To begin with, each pen includes two cube beads in their secondary colours.

One features the corresponding Bohrok-Va on opposite sides, interestingly the art is mirrored between the two. The second features an image of the Bohrok's shield alternating with the first letter of the Bohrok's name written in the Matoran script. Unlike the Bohrok-Va being mirrored the shield is actually rotated 180 degrees.

Next comes the cylindrical beads. Again, there are two included in each pen, one is made of transparent plastic in the tertiary colour, while the other is made of solid coloured plastic in the secondary, with the Bohrok emblem printed in the primary colour on only one side. This is true for all except the one included with Kohrak pen, which for some reason inverts the colours.

The last of the printed beads is the large round one. Every set comes with a black one that features a BIONICLE logo. They also come with a primary coloured one that features a monochromatic image of the island of Mata Nui on one side and the name Mata Nui on the other, printed in the secondary colours.

Now for the filler beads.

Due to the fixed length of the metal rod there are several coloured beads that can be used to fill space. Every pen comes with one large ribbed bead in the primary colour.

There is also a much smaller, thinner bead. Each pen comes with two, one in the secondary and one in black. Except for, again, the Kohrak pen, which instead has two black beads.

Finally there are the double beads, basically two of the thinner beads stacked on top of each other. Each pen comes with one in light grey, and one in the tertiary colour.

Last but not least comes the actual pen component of these pens.

Each pen features a pattern specific to the Bohrok's element, bubbling water for Gahlok, flames for Tahnok, etc. This pattern is then encased in soft, transparent rubbery plastic that has, unfortunately, become quite sticky over the years.

The pen mechanism is rather simple, by rotating the very tip of the pen in one direction the tip will be extended and you can write with it, and rotating it in the other will retract the pen.

The mechanism can be easily removed by unscrewing the end cap, which is where the thin metal rod that holds the whole pen together is attached to.

The mechanism comprises of a small metal ink cartridge attached to a white piece of plastic with a large thread on it, which is responsible for the extending of the writing tip. There is a rather large spring to keep pressure on the cartridge, as when the pen tip is retracted fully the part is just floating freely. Due to the specialised nature of the parts I don't know how replaceable the ink cartridge would be. at the very least it would need to be cut down.

That concludes this look at the pens, finally this series will feature a small gallery of some photos I took of the pens.

[pasta-in-the-pudding]

BEN Drowned with mysterious urban legend S/O. Despite he’s a creepy pasta, BEN curiously going to explore mysterious places search for S/O. 🪽

I can only imagine that this would lead to the sweetest relationship dynamic!

Thank you so much for requesting!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ben x Urban legend!Reader

Life with you is quite interesting

Ben's met quite a few cryptids in his life (or rather, death?)

But when he got in a relationship with you, his interest was piqued even more

Whenever he wakes up, you are almost always gone

Where, you ask?

Well, one of your hiding places of course!

Wether that be deep into the woods, in an old abandoned building, or even if you had slender build something for you, you spend most of your time hiding and waiting to spook curious kids

And this morning was no dfferent

BEN decided to actually sleep last night, leaving you awake and bored

So he packs a small bag with his nintendo switch, some doritos, his phone, and a can of coke

All of the essentials

And he's off, searching for you in your usual spots

You're not in your favorite tunnel, but he spots some new graffiti and takes some pictures of himself by it

You aren't at the old run down carnival, but after searching all of the rides he gets bored and plays on his switch for a while

And then the last place he checks is the old schoolhouse that's near the city in the overworld and of course, that is where you are

He sees you there, sitting on the teacher's desk faced away from the door, humming to yourself and playing with your hair

He closes the door and this causes you to stop humming and freeze completely

BEN stands there for a moment, awaiting your response

Your response is to twirl your head around 180 degrees with your face morphed and stretched into an ungodly creature

When you realize that it's BEN, your face returns to normal and you rotate the rest of your body to face him

BEN, completely unfazed, walks towards you with a smile "scaring little kids again, babe?"

You smile and begin playing with your hair again "no, i think I've scared them all off from this particular spot...i thought maybe i got lucky and someone didn't get the memo"

He jumps up onto the desk and sits with you "nope. Just me. But you can scare me all you want" he says with a grin

"You're a ghost though" you point out "anything i do to try and scare you you can also do!"

He laughs "well, i can pretend to be scared if it would please you" he says before kissing your nose and pulling the doritos out of his bag

"Gonna go anywhere else today?" He asks, mouth full of chips

"Well, i was going to go into that old tunnel..."

"Oh, i was just there! I'll follow you, and this time i promise I'll be sneaky" he says, now swallowing the chips and shoving another handful into his mouth

You giggle softly at the memory of last time you had brought your boyfriend along with you on one of your haunts

You had almost had a group of curious teens lured right into your palm, ready to scare them when all of a sudden, BEN loses his match of mario cart and yells out "stupid cock sucking mother fucker!"

That was enough to convince the teens that nothing spooky was actually in here, and that it was likely just a hangout spot

After you come back to the current moment you look at him with a smile "well....only if you promise"

[wutwutno1]

Happy Vore Day! Have a fic!

Uzi is tiny in this BTW.

Uzi's heart beat loud and her lungs hurt. She could hear him coming closer. Her legs raced, but she knew that at her size she wasn't going to out run him.

Clank! ... Clank! ... Clank! ...

His footsteps echoed through the halls, each one getting louder as he drew near. Uzi ducked under a nearby desk. Maybe he wouldn't notice her and walk right past.

CLANK! ... CLANK! ... CLANK! ...

"Come out, come out, wherever you are!" His voice echoed through the halls. He was close, practically on top of her. Uzi heald her breath, her heartbeat loud in her ears. She could feel it thumping in her chest. Her mind raced. She calculated the most probable diety to pray to that he wouldn't find her.

Suddenly, the desk Uzi was hiding under lifted and she looked up to see him, and his toothy grin as he held the desk high above his head.

"Found you, Uzi!" N beamed, having won their game of hide and seek. He carefully put the desk down behind him. "You sure did buddy." Uzi smirked as N bent down to offer his hand, which she happily climbed on. "How did you find me so fast? I could swear I has you this time!" N cupped his hands under Uzi and brought her to his face before answering. "I dunno. Good intuition I guess! Also, i saw your legs from under the desk!" "Drats!" Uzi said, staring up at N's goofy face.

"Can I eat you now?" Uzi immediately got flustered at that. They had agreed that if N won he could eat her, and that may have played into Uzi choosing her hiding spot, but she didn't expect him to be so forward about it. "N," Uzi squealed, "don't be so forward about that!" N could only look down as me mumbled a sorry. "That being said," Uzi stood up on N's palms, "yes, you may eat me now."

N stood from his crouched position. "Really‽ Now‽ Oh, thank you, Uzi!" Uzi was barely able to smile before N shoved her into his mouth. Uzi's face met N's glowing yellow mechanical tongue. Her entire body instantly getting soaked in saliva, but none more so than her face.

"Pfttt! N! Not so rough!" N mumbled another apology, and Uzi hugged his tongue. She liked his tongue. It was warm and soft, it was like hugging a bed, but most importantly, it was N's tongue. Don't ask her why it being N's made it better, but it does.

Uzi felt the spongy surface shift under her as N began to position her for the trip. Uzi giggled and relaxed, letting N do his thing. He rotated her 180 degrees, pointing her feet at the back of his throat. Uzi could barely contain her excitement as her fingers fidgeted with each other. Finally, after what seemed like forever, N swallowed her down with a loud, "glp."

N felt the wiggling mass of Uzi slide down his throat, her sweet taste still lingering on his tongue. The tight tube pushed Uzi down and massaged her. She giggled the entire way. The narrow passageway opening into a slightly more open and cavernous space.

Uzi looked around the space. Yellow LEDs lined the groves and folds of N's stomach, bathing the grey flesh in a warm neon-yellow glow. N's heartbeat and breathing could be heard somewhere overhead. The walls pulsed and squeezed around Uzi, massaging her extra short form.

This was her safe space. The one place she felt she could go to without being disterbed by nosy fathers and prying eyes. She especially loved how it came with N's company. She felt safe inside him, and she cherished that. Plus, this technically counted as a kiss, but she wouldn't tell him that.

Her eyes adjusted to the barely lit atmosphere. She was about to settle in when her phone dinged with a message. She quickly pulled it out to see what it is.

Biscuitboi98: U ok in there?

Uzi rolled her eyes with a smile. Of course, N was worried about her. Uzi began to text back, the clicking filling the semi-silent void of N's belly.

DarkxWolf17: Of course! I know you'd never hurt me! :p

Biscuitboi98: Cool! :D

Uzi put her phone away and lied down. She took one last look at her little safe space, and closed her eyes for a short nap. Letting the soft gurgles, and heartbeat that filled her ears take her away to dreamland.

When Uzi awoke, she found herself tucked into a small dollhouse bed in her room. She sat up and rubbed her eyes. She realized that although she was dry, her clothes weren't. "Goddamnit. Looks like I'll have to do another load of laundry. Uzi quickly changed outfits into something more comfortable and dry.

After changing she looked around her room and the disturbing lack of N. She sighed, feeling a little sad about not being able to speak to her friend after just being in his belly. She looked to her left and noticed a piece of paper on the wall. She realized it was a drawing from N, and a new one at that. She got closer to study it and see what it says.

"Thank you for the fun, Uzi!"

[thegoofyfanaticus]

(( Commission from the incredibly talented ArtReplicant )) "You're finished." Damion bluntly and matter of factly told William as he finished his flexing for the fans. Before William could respond, Damion lifted William just over his head and rotated him 180 degrees. As Damion brought William down, he hooked his left arm around William's right thigh and pulled down. He then let Damion fall behind his back a little as he took his right arm and hooked it under William's right armpit. From there it was simple adjustments to finish putting William in a back breaker the likes no one had seen before.  "What the.....AAAAAHHHHHHHHH FUUAAAAAAAHHHHHHCCCCKKKK!" William screamed as his back was bent and twisted while Damion secured in his hold. His back burned like it was about to break. He could feel his abs stretch to the point where some felt like they were tearing apart. Damion finished by moving his right hand over William's right pec and finding William's throat He also turned his head just a tad to show off a sly grin to any camera that was fixated on William. "AHHHHEEEECCCCHHHHHHH!" William grabbed Damion right wrist with his own right hand in an attempt to pry the choke off his throat. Damion had too much leverage and was able to force William's head down to his hip by the throat. William was dizzy from the lack of air and also the blood flow that pooled in his head before the choke had started. His vision was blurring fast. The pain surged through his body as his muscled twitched and flexed desperate to stop being twisted or stretched beyond their range of motion. Williams protestations quickly died to moans and then just as quickly died altogether. Damion's grin grew into a smile of satisfaction as he felt the cowboy weakening under his grasp and then go limp.  The crowd watched with morbid wonder as the carnage unfolded before them. Camera recorded the whole event. Mouths were gaping open at what they witnessed. Pictures had been taken and vids had been recorded. Social Media blew wide open as each pic and vid went viral. The crowd waited for Damion to just dump William to the ground. Damion had other plans.

[titanicfreija]

"Humans have very limited ranges of motion," Sunny complained.

The Titan lifted her head and found Sunny 'matting into view in her cockpit between matches. "Yeah? I mean. We're attached to ourselves," Freija responded. "I'm sorry I can't detach my hands? I mean, I can't and still use them?"

Sunny flickered at her Guardian. "Well, I was trying to come up with a way for you to dance with me, and copying didn't work at all, so I was trying to translate my things into your things, and then I was just going to change your things into mine, but both of those feels impossible because you only have four major limbs and none of them can rotate or move three hundred sixty degrees."

Freija blinked at her Ghost. "I mean, we're attached to ourselves," she repeated. "Tendons and shit, you've seen 'em."

"Yes," sighed Sunny.

"It's okay, we're used to this one," Freija cheered, and she took herself out of the queue and punching in new coordinates in the Dreaming City.

"What-- where are we going?"

"Eh, nowhere, exactly? Private space outside, lots of those shrines and platforms and mountains and shit--free to practice unabashed for both of us. Guardians don't go often, and I know lots more hiding places than everyone else."

Sunny hung silent and Freija grinned at her. "I don't have very good armor for this," she admitted, "and I don't want to take it off while I'm there. So this will just be us trying to make stuff for better practice later."

"You've got to stop making excuses," Sunny teased.

"Yeah yeah yeah."

~

"Okay."

The white stone stuck out in the midst of the surrounding wildlife, almost as badly as the shining, fiery Titan standing on it.

"Lucky for you," Sunny declared, "I needed to find new ways to rotate my new shells."

Freija cocked her head to a side. "How did you do that, anyway?"

Sunny wheeled at her Guardian but didn't speak. Instead, she rotated to put her back directly into the sunlight and line her eye up with the shadow beneath. She wheeled her petals, then stretched them all out, wheeling front and back 180° in opposite directions. "These are much more fan-shaped, so I'll be able to do flowers better, but my stars..." The Ghost drifted off as she stretched her petals in four sets, front and back sets twisting in pairs. The different edges lined up to make points, so she stretched all eight up and turned them all to layer like scales in a circle, creating rounded points. "It'll pass," she murmured, turning to her Guardian, who stood with her mouth pursed shut and her shining eyes wide.

"You're not clumsy," Sunny told her before she got started. "You just don't realize how often you make difficult things look natural and easy."

"Practice," Freija grumbled. "Yeah yeah yeah. So, show me something simple that doesn't mean turning a limb into a picture? Or maybe go ahead and let me see if I can copy it. I can make shapes with my hands?"

Sunny wheeled thoughtfully. "I like the idea of you dancing with me, and I don't know if your hands count."

"Puppets count as far as I'm concerned, dancing is dancing."

Sunny giggled. "I can pull your strings? Hamstrings?"

The pair laughed and Sunny considered the steps she knew, and how many of them didn't involve full circles. (Not many.)

"Okay. You can't laugh at any names. But there's one that's Short Wave where I..."

She sent her petals out in arcs, moving each ninety degrees back and forth, back and front together.

Freija nodded, then moved her left hand ninety degrees from the elbow, then from her shoulder, then mixed the two where she lifted her elbows then folded her arm to touch her shoulder and stretched it out. "Any of those look good? Any kind of energy I'm trying to put forth? Or whatever? You know, artists are so fucking weird?"

Sunny giggled at her Guardian. "Most of the things we're going to translate easily are going to be fast paced and high energy, because the short motions usually are. I can double their count to slow them down, but they'll still be high energy."

"Ssssso, dance moves as invented by my Sunny Bunny Sunbeam," Freija teased. "So how about, instead of my translating one by one, you show me a short routine and we take that apart? Or did you need to make one up?"

"Actually-- yes, but you can definitely come up with your own footwork while I do that. There's--"

"Nine points on three layers, basically a cube, though you stayed pretty well in the middle," Freija interjected. "I noticed that one."

Sunny bonked Freija's chest, but the Titan just laughed. "Anyway, I can duck for the low points, but the high ones can only be jumping. I can hold for a bit, but you'll have to lower sooner or bounce for me."

Sunny wheeled and swung in the air, considering possibilities.

"But yeah, if I start mid-back left, I can follow with single steps and tap or wiggle something on off beats."

Sunny swayed again. "Shoulder wiggle would be good for this one," she suggested. "I use similar points of reference for my shell, with myself as the center of sixty-four points."

Freija gave a huge revelatory nod as her mouth opened wide. "Ohhh! So." She put a hand at her head, then stretched right above it, then extended her arm straight up.

"We're getting there," Sunny laughed.

~~~~

I keep trying to write this but I don't know how to dance and I can't make any up for actual human-shaped people. The bit keeps making me think of the Simon Says emote, though, and I love the idea, so I keep trying.

@annieruok94

[toastypantoast]

Delta Stalkers: Large thin humanoids that live along river banks, often adjacent to population centers. Their height ranges from 5-12 feet tall (1.5-4 meters). Their skin, known to be highly flexible, is made up of two layers. The first is a set of scales, similar to that of a salamander, and underneath is the second, a thin, rubberlike material connecting the scales together. This skin is known to be extremely flexible, and can stretch up to 4 times it’s non-elongated size.

Normally bipedal, the Stalkers drop to all fours only when chasing prey (which they catch by creating pockets in their skin) or running away from predators. In their bipedal state, they move sluggishly, often no faster than a human toddler. In their quadripedal state however, an adult delta stalker can run up to 14 feet per second (4.27 meters per second).

The creatures have ball-joints in their elbows and knees, allowing for full rotation on the x and y axes. Combined with their unique muscular structure (which allows all muscle groups to exert the same force with pulling as they do with pushing), their turn radius can near 180 degrees without a step being taken.

Due to an evolutionary defect, delta stalkers do not have teeth. instead, their mouth cavity is filled with thin, incredibly durable tendons meant to slice food on the way down. However, they can’t cut through most hard substances (such as bone). This has led to the species primarily targeting children and occasionally adolescents.

Image credits: Stat blocks made by me using a site I can’t remember

Sketch of Stalker made by my player Dilfy mcDilferson

note: The Kidnapper ability only works on medium or lower size categories. No more carrying two tarrasques

[ifidiedinadream]

1, 2, 6, 29?

hello dear! thank you for the ask 🥰 i already answered 6 and 29 but i'm gonna choose another passage for 29!

How many words have you written this year?

120,248 🫣

2. How many works did you publish this year?

46...

29. Favorite line/passage you wrote this year?

have this super cute and domestic (t)twins moment from love never wanted me 🥰

"Joonas? Joonas! " 

Joel doesn't know what he got himself into. He didn't think it'd be so hard - all he had to do was follow some simple instructions. Yet there's the smell of something burning permeating the entire kitchen and he's starting to panic. He really didn't want to ask for Joonas' help again but he's over anyway, sprawled on Joel's couch as he scrolls TikTok and finishes yet another bag of candies. 

"Porko!" Joel yells, since he can't hear him come and the oven is starting to fume. 

"What the hell, dude -" Joonas says and coughs when he enters the kitchen. "What are you doing?!" 

"The cake, I - this motherfucker wouldn't get fluffy so I kept it in the oven for longer than I should've but now I think I fucking burned it." 

"Wait, move." 

Joonas steps in between Joel and the oven and hastily opens it, freeing a black, huge cloud of smoke that makes Joel's eyes water. 

With an oven glove, Joonas pulls what was supposed to be a cake out of the oven and rests it on the table. Then he quickly opens the window and it's instantly relieving for Joel's lungs. 

"I told you to keep it at 180 degrees. 220 is too much," Joonas says upon inspecting the settings of the oven. 

Joel lowers his gaze, embarrassed, then looks at Joonas through his lashes. 

"I know," he says. "But it wasn't rising so -" 

"Did you put baking powder in it?" 

Joel halts, the gears struggling to rotate in his brain. He lets himself fall into a nearby chair with a loud thud. 

"No," he mutters, looking away. 

"It's okay," Joonas assures him. "Maybe we can save some of it." 

Joel doesn't even want to see what's left of his poor cake, ashamed that he can't do anything right. 

He's supposed to have their friends over today, and he felt like doing something cute for them because he's been a bitch at the studio these days and he feels incredibly sorry for taking his frustration out on them (it's not their fault that he's dissatisfied with his performance at the moment and that his personal life is empty and dry. Not that they would know about it). At first, he wanted to make dinner for them, so he called Joonas but he straight up told him to opt for something easier. We can order take out , he said. Why don't you think of the dessert? And he had facts to back this suggestion up, even. Desserts are easier to make than regular food. All you have to do is follow some instructions and you're done, there's little room for error, really. Whereas when it comes to cooking there are way too many variables you have to take into account and it's a mess. Just trust your bro Joonas on this. 

Well, it didn't go as planned, but at least he didn't waste any meat and fish and vegetables on this. They're expensive these days, with the inflation and everything. 

(When did Joel start to sound like a fucking old man ?!) 

"Actually, I don't know how you managed it, but it's only burned at the top. If we cut that part out, then it's perfectly edible." 

"But it's already super thin like this," Joel whines. "And it probably tastes like shit too." 

Joonas gives him a piece of (unburned) cake. Skeptical, Joel ingests it, and it's actually not half bad. 

"We can put Nutella on top to conceal it's been cut. Everybody loves Nutella," Joonas says and Joel smiles, thinking back to that time they brought one of those 500g Nutella jars to the studio and it disappeared under mysterious circumstances while Joel was focused on a track. There were suspicious brown spots adorning Olli's and Aleksi's mouth areas later but they only laughed when Niko confronted them about it.  

(Joel couldn't complain. Joonas had fed him a couple of spoonfuls while he was sorting out chords earlier, so his sugar craving was satisfied.) 

Joel nods, getting up to find Nutella in the cupboard. Joonas already took the burned part out, and Joel would say he did a master job at it (but when isn't Joonas doing master jobs anyway?). With a knife, he spreads the Nutella all over the cake, and it does indeed look pretty inviting after all. 

[cagemasterfantasy]

Gingerbread Man

Makes about 24 cookies

Ingredients: Cookies: 3 cups all-purpose flour, 3/4 Cup packed dark brown sugar, 1 Tablespoon ground ginger, 2 Teaspoons ground cinnamon, 3/4 Teaspoon baking soda, 3/4 Teaspoon kosher salt, 3/4 Teaspoon dry mustard powder, 1/2 Teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg, 1/8 Teaspoon ground cloves, 12 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled, 2/3 Cup unsulphured molasses (not blackstrap), 3 Tablespoon whole milk, 1/2 Teaspoon pure vanilla extract.

Decoration: 2/3 Cup currants or raisins, 1/3 Cup very finely chopped toasted walnuts, 1 1/3 Cups confectioners sugar, 1 Egg white, 1/4 Teaspoon pure vanilla extract, Kosher salt

Make the cookies. In a food processor, combine the flour, brown sugar, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, mustard powder, nutmeg, and cloves. Pulse several times to mix. Add the melted butter, molasses, milk, and vanilla and process until the ingrediants are combined into a dough with no remaining streaks of flour, 15 to 30 seconds, stopping to scrape down the sides of the work bowl as necessary.

Dust a work surface very lightly with flour scrape the dough onto it, and knead briefly until the dough forms a cohesive ball. Divide the dough in half, shape each half into a disk 3/4 to 1 inch thick, wrap each one in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 24 hours.

Preheat the oven to 350 with the racks in the upper-middle and lower-middle of the oven. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.

Working with 1 dough disk at a time, roll the dough between 2 large sheets of parchment paper into a circle about 1/4 inch thick; the diameter should be about 11 inches, but the thickness is more important. Make sure the thickness is even from the center to the edges of the circle. Remove the top sheet of parchment and, with a 3 1/2-inch gingerbread man cookie cutter, cut out as many cookies as possible. Peel away the dough scraps and carefully transfer the cut cookies to the prepared baking sheets, arranging them with about 1 inch space around them (about 9 per sheet). Mash the dough scraps together and with the remaining refrigerated dough, roll out and cut as many cookies as possible. Not all of the cookies will fit on the 2 sheets, necessitating a second round of baking. Make sure the cookie sheets cool before loading them with more cookies to bake.

Bake until the cookies are just set around the edges and slightly puffed, 9 to 11 minutes, rotating the sheets 180 degrees and switching racks midway through the baking. Cool the cookies on the baking sheets for 10 minutes, transfer them to wire racks, and cool completely before decorating.

Decorate the cookies. Spread the currants on a plate, pick through them to remove any especially large ones, and reserve. In a small bowl, mix 1/3 cup of the tiny currants and the walnuts, and set aside.

With a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, or a handheld electric mixer, beat the confectioners' sugar, egg white, vanilla, a pinch of salt, and 1 teaspoon water on medium-low speed until combined, 1 minute. Adjust the speed to medium-high and beat until glossy, soft peaks form, 2 to 3 minutes, stopping to scrape down the bowl as necessary.

On each cooled cookie, spread about 1/2 teaspoon icing around the midriff, as if making a cummerbund. Working quickly while the icing is still tacky, sprinkle a scant 1 teaspoon of the currant-walnut mixture evenly over each cummerbund, pressing it gently to help it adhere.

Scrape the remaining icing into a small sandwich or ziplock plastic bag and, using your hands or a bench scraper, push it into 1 lower corner of the bag. Cut off 1/16 inch from the very corner of the bag and pipe 2 eyes and 2 thin lines of icing on the arms and legs of each cookie. For the mouth, pipe a 1/4-inch dot of icing and press a large currant into it. Allow to dry for about 45 minutes. Serve or store in an airtight container for up to 2 days.

Source: Heroes Feast

[catfurniturefactory]

The jacobson's organ is located in the upper surface

The jacobson's organ is located in the upper surface of a cat's mouth. There are more than forty thousand nerve fibres present in the auditory nerve of cats as compared to human beings having about thirty thousand. The fur of cats are warm, soft, shiny, silky and of various lengths depending upon breed of cat. The Siamese breed of cats is exceptionally more vocal. Cats also have about three times more rods in their eyes as compared to human beings so they can see better than human beings in dim light. Cats have Peripheral vision and binocular vision which enables it to accurately judge large distances. The sense of taste in cats is as developed as sense of smell.The taste buds are present in tongue of cats.

The skin of cats is covered with highly sensitive touch spots which respond to the lightest pressure. The American Curl breed of cats have ears that curl away from the face. The largest breeds of domestic cat are Ragdoll and Maine Coon. Eyes of cats have a additional third eyelid or nictitating membrane which is a thin fleshy membrane that is usually tucked away at the inner corner of the eye. Out of all domestic animals, only cats have true furs. Hearing power of cats is about two times greater than dogs. Cats can hear sounds of upto 65kHz and dogs can hear sounds of upto 30kHz. There are about forty internationally recognized breeds of cats which differs mainly in their personality, intelligence, coat colour, coat colour pattern, body size, ear size, ear shape, nose size, eye colour, tail length, tail shape, thickness of tail, fur length, face shape and eye shape. Ear of cats can rotate up to 180 degrees in order to locate and identify even the faintest of squeaks, peeps and rustling noises. Sense of smelling in cats is highly developed. Ears of cats have twelve muscles.Cats prefer salty and sour tastes more than sweetness and bitterness. Hearing power of cats is about three times greater than human beings. Cats have both undercoat fur and outer fur.The coat of Russian Blue cats is blue coloured. Cats have highly developed sense of touch. The Manx breed of corrugated cat scratcher Factory cats do not have a tail.Cats sense of hearing is one of the highest in animal kingdom. Out of all cat breeds, the Persian breed of cats have longest and thickest fur. Many cat encyclopedias are now available at . There are more than hundred breed of cats. The cats can have upto two hundred hairs for every square millimeter on their body. The third eyelid helps in protection and cleaning of eye. Cats have fourteen times more smelling power than human beings.The night vision of cats is six times greater than human beings.The Maine Coon breed of cats looks somewhat like a Raccoon.Domestic cats possess some colour vision.The cats have additional smelling organ known as jacobson's organ besides having nose. For function of vision, Cats have more nerve cells in their brain as compared to human beings and all other mammals. The tongue of cats is covered with hooklike rough protuberances or papillae, that it uses to rasp meat from bones and to groom itself

[writefinch]

Cheerleader Ransom, Pt.3 (CN: noncon, bondage, electricity)

Robert fumbled the disc, knocking it twice against the face of the DVD player before pushing it in. Even his sweat stank of vodka now, he'd been drinking, he'd had to drink this much to even open up the package. Sobriety was a fuel to burned up each day like chipped fatwood on a bonfire to meet the kidnappers' demands, and once that was spent he could do nothing but drink. He poured himself another glass as the screen lit up.

That day's video began with a shot of a wooden barrel on its side, bolted in place on the concrete floor. A muffled scream came from off-camera, growing in volume until Hannah was carried into frame by four masked men, wailing into her gag as they bent her backwards over the barrel and strapped her into place. The leader of the kidnappers stepped in front of the camera, obscuring everything but the backs of the men and the edges of Hannah's flailing limbs.

"Robert, I thought I'd never have to worry that you'd exceed anyone's expectations, and you've so far proven me correct. That's fine, you've done what we've asked. A better man than you might try to do more than the bare minimum for his daughter but hey, a better man would never have gotten his daughter in this position in the first place. Whatever, it is what it is, and your cooperation--and money, naturally--have ensured that we won't need to, ah, accelerate the schedule for our dear little guest yet." His words were punctuated by the sounds of smacks and squeals as the men went about restraining her. "So we were talking to her last night, after she'd vomited up most of the cum for the last time, and it turns out Hannah has never fucked a guy. That's crazy right, a cute cheerleader like her, you'd figure she'd be getting stretched out nightly by some fridge-shaped football player, but no, she's got a girlfriend, and by my definition she's a virgin. Don't worry Rob, we're going to fix it."

The leader stepped aside and the shot focused on Hannah's lower body. Everything above the base of her ribs was hidden by the curve of the barrel. Three canvas straps kept her hips pinned to the barrel, one at the top of each thigh and one across her navel. Rope had been looped around each of her ankles and connected to pulleys and a winch, drawing her legs apart until they were at a perfect 180-degree split, then cranking a few inches further until she screamed in pain and her legs looked on the verge of dislocating. The leader walked forward and traced a finger over the joint between her leg and her pelvis.

The camera panned around to her feet, zooming in close on the angry red stripes. "We practiced this earlier, sorry about the marks on her feet, we figured that if she could move her feet away from the cane, the rope wasn't taut enough."

The camera continued its rotation, until her upper body came into view. The only clothing she still wore were the tattered remains of her cheerleading tabard, soiled with spit and cum and pulled up over her tits. Her arms were bound hand-to-elbow behind her back, and her head was kept firmly in place by a thick, U-shaped iron band which went across her throat and had been screwed into the wood of the barrel. Her hair was a rat's nest of male fluids, her eyes puffy from crying, two tubes had been pushed deep into her nose to aid in her breathing, and her gag was locked deep in place by bandages which frothed with pale foam around her mouth. While some of the cum splattering her face had obviously dried yesterday, several lines appeared to be thick and fresh.

"All the ass-to-mouth stuff she did yesterday was fucking gross so we gagged her with a bar of soap. Don't fret about the cum on her face, some of the boys wanted to get the easy one out of the way." He sighed. "Look, Rob, fundamentally we all know that you're a fucking deadbeat and none of us trust that you'll pay us promptly without fucking it up, so we're working under the assumption that your sweet baby girl will be under our care for a while. She'll need to earn some money to pay her way, she'll be earning it by selling her cunt, and since she's a virgin she's got a steep learning curve. We're not just going to fuck her, we're going to give her a crash course in getting fucked so that we can get the most use possible out of her for the next few weeks or months. Given that, our resident electrician has some ideas to help loosen here up, come on over, Sparky..."

The kidnapper called Sparky wore the same nondescript black outfit as the others, but there was clearly a ponytail under her balaclava, her hands were slimmer, and her jacket was thicker around the chest. She wheeled over a trolley bearing an array of electrical equipment.

"That block on top is a heavily-modified transdermal electrical nerve stimulation unit, or TENS unit," said the leader. "Hannah's gonna get a real jolt out of it."

Sparky slipped on a set of black nitrile gloves and began applying electrode patches all over the whimpering girl: six pairs along her inner thighs, one either side of her clit, one either side of her anus, a pair on each side of her ribcage, four pairs over her breasts, and a pair on the soles of each of her feet. She ran wires between each patch and the TENS unit and tugged each one gently to ensure it was securely in place, before stopping to give the camera a thumbs-up.

The camera zoomed in on the TENS unit. It had a row of paired dials and switches, with a label next to each pair: feet, stomach, clit, asshole, tits, thighs 1, thighs 2, for each set of electrodes. "Look at this beautiful machine, Rob. Each dial can go from gentle tickling to bacon searing, and each switch will deliver a short, sharp, high-intensity shock. Sparky, give him a demonstration."

Muffled yelps sounded out as Sparky simultaneously flicked the buttons for her clit and nipples, followed by a ragged, gargling howl as she turned the dial for feet all the way up and back down.

"Relax, we're not going to torture her with it, not today at least."

Sparky spent the next few minutes carefully setting each dial individual dial to a level that elicited whimpering and twitching but not yelling or thrashing. She marked that point on each dial with chalk before turning it down to zero and moving on to the next dial. Once she discovered the point for all the separate dials, she set every single one to that point. Hannah's pained whine rose in pitch before breaking into sobbing as an uncomfortable level of current ran through dozens of sensitive points all over her body.

"See, the real thing about electricity, beyond the intensity of the sensation, is that it's stable," said the leader. "It never gets less intense, there's no break between hits, no way to stop and catch your breath, it just goes directly into your nerves for as long as the current keeps running. It's barely been ten seconds, and I bet we can see the effects."

He nodded, and Sparky spread Hannah's labia with her black nitrile fingers, revealing a glint of moisture.

"See? We'll need more than that, though."

Sparky took a Hitachi from inside the trolley, turned it on full-power, and pressed it down directly onto Hannah's clit. At the same time she slipped her ring and middle finger into the girl and began grinding her hand against her. At first, Hannah squeaked and gurgled at the violation, but a tone of desperation soon crept into her cries. Her skin became flushed as it built and built, her chest rising and falling and rising, twitching against her restraints, almost as if she was trying to push herself into it.

"You ready to cum for me, pretty girl?" Sparky's voice was deeper than Rob had expected, and it almost came out as a growl. "I can feel you squeezing my fingers, just a little longer..."

A second before Hannah's whole frame could seize up in climax, Sparky pulled away both hand and Hitachi, and slapped her hard five times directly on her cunt. The girl howled in pain as her orgasm was stolen from her, only for Sparky to reapply her fingers and the wand, grinding into her even harder. Again, she pulled her hand away and slapped her clit before the girl could come, and she repeated this process three more times before setting aside the wand and wiping her brow.

"She's ready, boys."

"Finally." The leader walked up between Hannah's legs, unzipping his fly as the camera zoomed in on her pussy, twitching and glistening, open ever-so-slightly as the base from the way her legs were stretched. He took out his cock and stroked it fully-hard, foreskin rolling up and down the cherry-red tip. He gasped softly, only barely audible on the sound of the recording, as he rubbed the head up and down her cleft, coating it in her juices before lining it up at the base. "Rob, I think your daughter's gonna be pretty fucking tight."

He slammed his hips forward. Hannah made a sound between a sneeze and a hiccup before screaming, her body tensing and contorting in a way that would have pushed her a foot into the air had she not been bound so securely to the barrel. Despite her reaction, his cock was barely half-way inside her, bending slightly from the force. Impatient, he grabbed her by the hips and pushed even harder, sinking into her half-inch by half-inch until his pelvis met her groin. He then fell forwards onto her like a dog in rut, humping frenetically with no regard for anything other than his own pleasure as the girl below him wailed into her soapy gag, his hairy chest rasping across her bare stomach as his balls slapped against her asshole.

Sparky said something to the leader, but her words were unintelligible over the slapping of flesh on flesh and the grunts and whimpers. Whatever was said, the leader heard enough to nod in response, and so Sparky rapidly flicked the switch to send shocks through Hannah's clit, drawing a keening screech from the girl and a roar from the leader as he climaxed. He kept pumping in and out of Hannah's cleft for a full minute after as thick, opaque cum oozed out from around his cock, ran down her crack, and dripped onto the floor below, and he only pulled out when he was too soft to stay inside her.

He stepped aside, staggering for a second as if drunk, and wiped cum and fluids off his cock with his hand, and then wiped his hand off on Hannah's thigh. "Robert, I know she's your daughter," he said, his breathing ragged, "but you've seriously got to try it if and when you get her back. That was the tightest, hottest cunt I've ever fucked."

The camera zoomed in on her pussy, stretched even wider than before, a line of pink-tinged semen seeping out and trickling down onto the concrete. A moment later the next man stepped up and stuffed his prick inside her, his entry made even easier by the slick cum. He fucked her at a luxurious, leisurely pace, slapping and pinching her tautly-stretched thighs and stomach, all while Sparky flicked the switches on the TENS unit to make Hannah clench and writhe around her lover. He pulled out and walked around to finish on her upturned face, smearing his cum into her eyes as a third man stepped up to fuck her.

The line went on, thirty men fucking her one after another, no breaks and no cuts, no man lasting more than a few minutes before cumming inside her or on her. Her cries and struggles grew weaker, by the half-hour mark she could barely struggle, and as the last few men took their pleasure from her she could only twitch and sob.

The camera followed the final rapist as he pulled out, spewed his load over Hannah's belly, and walked off to drink beer with the others. It then returned to focus on Hannah. Her skin was violently pink where it had been slapped, scratched, pinched and groped, as if she'd been sunburned in a circle that radiated out from her groin. Her thighs and breasts were covered in handprints and scratch marks, the skin dotted with grape-sized bruises where the men had dug their fingers in roughly for leverage as they fucked her, and every inch was covered in sweat. Criss-crossed lines of cum coated her stomach and tits, and a few stray strands dripped from her heels, from a few men who had pulled out to cum on her bare soles. Her pussy gaped open, wide enough to insert a sharpie without touching the edges, an unbroken trail of cum leaking out between her legs.

There was a squeak of relief as Sparky turned off the TENS unit, followed by whimpering as she not-at-all-gently yanked off each and every electrode patch. Sparky then took a harness from the trolley and clipped it in place around her hips. When she turned to the side, the camera caught sight of the toy she had mounted: an eight-inch silicone dildo, modeled on a dog's cock, with a baseball-sized knot at the base. Hannah barely reacted as the first few inches slipped inside her, screamed in pain and disgust as Sparky forced the knot inside, much to the amusement of the other kidnappers.

The camera panned away to show several of the kidnappers drawing straws, a particularly large man being congratulated by the others as he drew the one with the blue tip. The leader turned to face the camera and said, "She's such a good fuck that we decided we'd raffle her off as a body pillow for the night, looks like Tiny won it." He drank his beer, and as he stopped talking the squelch of a plastic knot being withdrawn from a well-fucked pussy became audible for a moment. "Don't take too long getting our money ready, okay? Because tomorrow we're busting her asshole open, and after that we'll have to start getting imaginative."

The recording cut to black.  

(Part 4 here)

[love-dreams]

build a rocket with me

pairing: joshua/reader

genre: angst, fluff

content: angst, break-up, long distance!au, idol!au emotional cheating, seunghee from clc!, angst ending

wc: 5k

note: omg 5k, i’m gonna be writing a part two for this too! thank you so much to @secndlife​ for helping me edit.. you’re amazing and i appreciate it so much. inspo: 《rocket》by seventeen (joshua and vernon), a continuation of my own long distance au blurbs: blurb1 blurb 2, netflix original: love alarm, @tonicandjins​ lie to me

It’s early in the morning when Joshua arouses you from your slumber, with a gentle shake and a soft, husky whisper, laced with drowsiness. The curtains are strewn shut in the dark room, the only source of light was the thin crack between the door and the wall of your bedroom. After another lackadaisical attempt to pull you out of your reverie, you opened your eyes, glancing sleepily up at your boyfriend through half-lidded eyes, a yawn already beginning to lodge itself in your throat. Groggily, you try to force your body upright with your forearms but your body is heavy from sleep and your limbs are limp without energy in the early morning.

“Josh, what time is it?” you mumbled, with an arm stretching out and fingers pawing at the bedside table for your glasses. 

You yawned mid-sentence, causing Joshua to chuckle, bending his body slightly over yours to impel you gently back to your original position. You gave in without resistance, arm limply hanging off the side of the bed and messy curls of hair framing your face on the pillow. 

He gazed into your sleepy orbs lovingly, caressing the side of your face with smooth strokes of his thumb. “I didn’t want to wake you, but I have to leave now. For tour. The guys and manager-hyung are waiting for me.”

In your sleep induced haze, you don’t fully comprehend Joshua’s words, lips mouthing an automatic, “Bye bye,” and your body already relaxing into the cushions.

Joshua couldn’t hold back the smile tugging at his lips, his heart feeling a little heavier as he gently pulled the door shut until it clicked, leaving you shroud in darkness once more. The last memory you have of that encounter was the warmth of your blankets embracing you.

“You should have woken me up!” you complained over the phone after you woke up. With a bloated face and oily skin, tangled strands of hair floating over your sight, Joshua almost chuckled at the fact that, even after just waking up, you were thinking about him. “I wanted to see you one last time before you left.”

Joshua smiled through the screen, a sleepy, exhausted smile, slight circles discoloring the skin under his eyes. “I didn’t want to, it was super early and I knew you had plans for the next day too.”

You pouted slightly, disappointed at the fact that you couldn’t send Joshua off to the airport, where he would soon be leaving for SEVENTEEN’s Asia tour. For three whole months. Just thinking about the time spent away from him made your heart hurt and your head swim. 

As you pulled out a chair from the countertop, you faintly noticed the white styrofoam box empty of its contents on top of a table behind Joshua.

“You already ate?” you questioned through a mouthful your breakfast ensemble.

Joshua nodded his head, a tired sigh escaping from his lips. He grabbed the phone off from where it was resting against a tissue box and collapsed onto the hotel bed, holding up his phone high above him, vertically, allowing you to see the crisp white sheets contrasting Joshua’s dark-colored hair; you could see the planes and slopes of his face and the slight dark circles rimming his beautiful chocolate brown orbs. Even then, sleep-deprived and bare-faced, he looked beautiful. 

He heaved another sigh, eyelids fluttering shut momentarily. “I miss you, Y/N.”

You purse your lips, trying to formulate an answer that will satisfy Joshua. “I do too, Shua. Work hard but don’t push yourself too hard, got it? Tell the other guys that as well,” you managed.

Joshua opened his eyes to stare at you through the screen. For a moment, there was a flicker of unease in his blank stare, causing your heart to stutter for a beat, but then, like a flick of a switch, his lips morphed back into a melancholy smile. “Okay, I will. Take care of yourself as well.”

You nodded, mirroring his smile, “I always do, Joshua.”

🟊 🟊 🟊 🟊 🟊

You really hoped that you could hold down the fort on your own without your boyfriend’s presence, but by the second week, it became apparent that you were heartbroken. Each passing day of living your life in absence of your boyfriend chipped at your heart; coming home to an empty home, eating dinner by yourself with two containers of takeout, routinely checking your phone for calls or texts. Your head was constantly plagued by worries of your boyfriend, if Joshua was eating well, if Joshua was tired from rehearsal, what Joshua saw that day; it became near-suffocating. 

The daily phone calls dwindled to once every few days to once or twice each week. Every evening you would make dinner for yourself, shower and sit, alone, under the covers of your bed, waiting beside your phone to see if he would call; sometimes he did and sometimes he didn’t. Either way, you had developed an unhealthy habit of staying up late at night until the sky was jet black and the city was silent, waiting in the dim, silent bedroom until you fell asleep.

“Hey baby, how are you? I’m sorry for not calling yesterday.”

A month had passed and Joshua was still touring with the other SEVENTEEN members. At this point you had developed a steady rhythm to your life and, although the yearning for your boyfriend was still present in your heart, you had started to feel a little happier and less lonely.  

In the background you could faintly make out other echoes of voices, informing you that your boyfriend wasn’t alone in the room. It looked like a new hotel room as well; the sheets were crisply tucked into the mattress with thick cream-colored blankets laying neatly on top. 

“It’s fine, we were performing anyway and didn’t get back until way late. Have you been eating well?” 

You smiled half-heartedly, a little bloom of warmth nestling in your chest from his concern. You uncrossed your hands from your lap, poking your chopsticks at the little untouched grains of white rice in your bowl. “Yeah, and you? I hope you’re eating proper meals.”

“Shua! The kimchi fried rice is here!”

Joshua’s lips broke out in a grin and yours cracked into a small smile as well at Jeonghan’s voice. 

“Okay, wait a sec,” Joshua whispered. “I’m talking to Y/N right now!” he called back. Dropping his gaze back to you, Joshua frowned apologetically, “Baby, can-”

“Go get your food, Shua,” you interrupted reassuringly, “Make sure to take care of yourself okay? And I promise to do the same.”

Joshua nodded and tilted his head endearingly, “I will and I love you, Y/N.”

Then he hung up.

On one fateful Saturday morning, your friend and coworker, Seunghee, decided to take you out to a cafe as a cure for your loneliness. It was a small cafe nestled in the city landscape, with large windows letting the rays of morning glow dance across the polished wooden floor. The two of you seated yourselves by one of the glass windows and ordered coffee with some snacks.

“So,” she leaned in, interlacing her fingers and resting on her elbows, with her weight over the table. “Tell me what’s going on with you and Joshua.”

Your eyebrows rose in surprise of the sudden question, choking on the green plastic straw of your iced americano. You coughed slightly, reaching for a napkin to dab at your moist lips. “I’m not sure what you mean. Josh and I are fine. We even called… just the other day,” you trailed off, voice growing weaker at the end. 

Seunghee rolled her eyes disbelievingly, retracting her arms to reach for her drink, taking a sip as well. “Oh yeah? Then tell me why you’ve been arriving to work looking like you’ve stayed up all night crying to rom coms.” You chortled in disagreement but didn’t refute what she said. “C’mon Y/N, you obviously have something up. Are you two fighting or something?”

“No, no,” you shook your head. You pushed your drink aside, folding your hands neatly on top of your skirt in an effort to look organized, brushing stray strands of hair out of your frame of vision, tucking them neatly behind your ears. Averting your gaze to the large windows of sunlight, you spoke softly, “We’re not fighting or anything. It’s just a little hard to explain.”

Seunghee nodded, backing off and scrunching her nose in discontent. “Well, that’s okay. You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to, just lemme know when you’re comfortable, okay? I’m worried about you.”

You smiled and gratefully thanked her for asking about you, settling into a prickly, awkward silence between the two of you. That serious atmosphere was finally lifted after a waitress delivered your orders; the two of you thanked her profusely and continued on with another light-hearted conversation. In the middle of drinking your coffees and taking small bites out of your sandwiches, Seunghee left for the restroom, grabbing her purse and phone to retouch on her makeup, all the while leaving you alone with your plates of food all by yourself.

You could hear the background cafe sounds of a coffee maker grinding and the rush of cars in the street; the city was just starting to wake up for the day ahead. It was a peaceful, and calm atmosphere, with a few more customers trickling in, it was like you were surrounded by a bubble of tranquility-

“Hey.”

Your head whipped around in surprise, heart jumping two beats. Your head turned side to side frantically as your eyes scanned the desert of vacant tables and chairs for the sudden voice. 

“Oh, sorry for surprising you! I’m over here, haha,” he laughed shyly, scratching his head awkwardly.

Turning a whole 180 degree rotation, behind you, you were met with the smiling face of a stranger. He was sitting backwards on his chair, head resting across his arms hanging over the back of it. 

You let out a breath of relief, head falling forward slightly. 

“Um, hi, do I know you?”

He grinned wider, a line of straight white teeth and full, pink lips. You refused to note the way that your heart skipped a beat and your cheeks became warm.

“No, but you can now! I’m Leo, and you must be Y/N?” He spoke in an optimistic, cheerful manner adorned with a cute eye smile. He radiated a type of innocence like the morning sun that was, at this time, turning into a blazing, burning heat outside of the air-conditioned building.

You narrowed your eyes at him, feeling apprehensive and suspicious. “Yes, my name is Y/N, and how do you know that?”

Leo chuckled and leaned back a little, sheepishly saying, “I may or may not have overheard your conversation with your friend... Seunghee, right?”

You parted your lips to respond but before you could, Seunghee was back from her trip to the restroom. Her lips were painted bold, apple red lipstick, and a new coat of mascara was applied onto her eyelashes. 

She halted in front of the table, confusedly glancing between you and Leo. “Sorry, am I interrupting something here?”

You reeled back, turning away from Leo to face Seunghee. Plastering a smile on your face, you shook your head, “Ah, no. We were just making small talk while I was waiting for you.” Seunghee raised an eyebrow disbelievingly, but slid into her seat anyway, a little smirk present on her face as she daintily bit into her sandwich. By the time the two of you had finished your meals and drinks, it was already a little past noon and the city was full in motion. Cars were whizzing by on the streets, accompanied by a steady rush of footsteps on the sidewalk. 

As you got up from your seat, grabbing your things along with you, you noticed that the stranger hadn’t left yet, head buried in a book and a forgotten cup of coffee on the table.

You felt a nudge to your side, glancing behind you in annoyance. “Go!” Seunghee whispered encouragingly, pushing you toward the male and walking briskly away to pay for your food.

Leo looked up, just as you stumbled toward him, unsteady footsteps drawing his attention away from the book.

“Wait- I-. Hi. Um, sorry, my friend-” you stammered, sweat already beginning to build up at the uncomfortable situation your friend had just pushed you into.

His face broke into a smile, taking off his round-rimmed glasses and closing his book softly. “Hi Y/N.”

You turned your head to scan for Seunghee, but she was already vacant from the cafe, leaving you by yourself in the most awkward situation you would have imagined. You sighed in slight annoyance, fingers pinching at your nose in habit. 

“I’m sorry, my friend… Seunghee pushed me, I didn’t mean to bother you or anything. She thinks I might be interested in you or something, I’m really sorry.”

Leo maintained his eye smile, gesturing dramatically at the chair opposite to him for you to sit down. Cautiously, you slid into the seat, tucking your skirt underneath you clumsily. Your eyes darted from Leo to the counter, then to the windows on your left. 

He took a sip of his coffee, unbothered by the nervous tension radiating from you. Scrunching his nose from the bitterness, Leo set down the cup and folded his hands in his lap. “It’s okay, we can’t control our attraction, not that I’m saying you like me or anything. We can’t control a lot of our feelings,” he paused tracing the lettering on the cover of the book. “We feel what we feel, loneliness, love, anger, that’s all natural and you shouldn’t feel apologetic.”

You nodded, fingers twisting the fabric of your skirt into wrinkles. “I guess you’re right, but don’t we have to be understanding sometimes? I just think that always conveying our emotions is sometimes selfish.”

Leo tilted his head, lips pursing, “I heard that you and your boyfriend are going through something? Do you want to talk about it?”

You averted your gaze to pick at the sleeve of your dress. “Yeah, he’s on tour at the moment, so I guess I decided to go out for once.”

“You sound a little unhappy about that.”

You scrunch your eyebrows together, trying to choose your next words carefully with consideration. “Well, it does get a little lonely, but he’s pursuing his dream, and that’s all that matters. I wanna support him on this.”

“And you? Do you have any life goals?”

You paused again, leaning back into the chair. “I’m aspiring to be a writer, so yeah, I suppose.”

“Wow, aren’t you two an artsy couple, huh.”

You smiled in slight embarrassment, cheeks rising in temperature. “I guess we are. How about you? Any life goals?” 

He broke into another breathtaking grin, hopes and aspirations pouring out of his mouth like a waterfall. As you sat with him, you felt so refreshed and energized with a new bout of motivation. Your heart swelled in happiness for the first time in weeks and you couldn’t help the broad smile tugging on your lips.

When he finally paused, you voiced your thoughts, “Thanks for chatting with me, Leo, I hope I didn’t take up too much of your time.”

Leo grinned, choosing to ignore your statement. He rose his cup to gulp down the last droplets of his now cold coffee. Letting out a discontent sigh, he gazed forlornly at the empty cup. “Unfortunately, by talking to you all this time I neglected my poor cup of coffee. As payment, you could, I don’t know, give me your number?”

You held his gaze with a warm smile, a shy blush creeping onto your cheeks and a faster tempo playing in your heart. It was endearing, his attentiveness to you. A therapeutic sense of calm washed over you and you couldn’t help but feel grateful and indebted.

You agreed on impulse, without an inkling of hesitation in your voice. 

After paying (Leo insisted on doing so, for the both of you), the two of you exited the cafe together and parted ways good-naturedly. Standing in the middle of the sidewalk, you pulled out your phone, you saw multiple text messages from Seunghee and a couple missed calls. 

Dialing her number, you raised your phone to your ear hesitantly, glancing at the people strolling past you. 

“Hello?”

“Jesus Y/N, do you know how long you spent there? It’s been almost two hours already! You have a boyfriend, you know?”

You laughed her comment off, twirling a strand of hair around your index finger and kicking at the loose gravel pieces. “I’m sorry for worrying you, Seunghee, and don’t worry, it wasn’t like that. We talked a little and, it’s fine, he already knows that I have a boyfriend.”

Seunghee huffed, “Fine, but I can’t believe you ditched me like that, I thought we were friends.”

“Technically, you ditched me first.”

She mockingly sighed, “For the good of your sorry relationship! Anyway, stay safe on the way home and text me later.”

You called for a cab, sitting in the leather backseat quietly with your phone in hand. Pulling up Leo’s contact evoked a smile on your face; the two of you had exchanged numbers in the midst of having more-than-one cup of coffee together, and also having more conversation than you had had with Joshua for months. You held your phone up to your chest, heart beating rapidly and eyelids shut in imagination. Your thoughts drifted to Leo’s smile, his brushed, brown locks of hair, his plush, peach lips-

Joshua. 

A truck of guilt smashed you out of your reverie, sending tremors of stress and anxiety to vibrate through your body. It was a crushing type of guilt that squeezed at your heart and collapsed your lungs. Adrenaline rushed through your veins, and you clenched your fists out of reflex. You were just romanticizing about another man when you were in a perfectly content, perfect relationship with your boyfriend. In your head, you could only imagine what Joshua’s face would look like if you told him what you had happened or the feelings that you had felt. 

The second the taxi pulled up to your street you pushed the car door open wide, swaying slightly on your feet, feeling distraught and shameful, knowing that it would only be downhill from that point onward.

🟊 🟊 🟊 🟊 🟊

“If you’re not happy with Josh then you should break up with him.”

You leaned back in your reclining chair, head tilting backwards and eyes squeezing shut from the bright light. You rubbed at your temples, trying to fend off the impending migraine creeping into your skull. “It’s not that easy, Seunghee, and I am happy with Josh.”

Seunghee spun you around, throwing herself into the empty chair beside you. “Is this about that guy we met in the cafe the other day?”

You opened your eyes in surprise, a sudden bout of stress striking your stomach. “Wh-what? What about him?”

Seunghee leaned on your desk, rolling her eyes, “It’s obvious. You clearly like him, and maybe that’s a good thing.”

“No, it’s not,” you adamantly denied, fingers digging into your computer keyboard as you pounded the backspace key. “I’m dating Joshua, and I barely know Leo, we saw each other for one day and that’s it.”

She raised an eyebrow, “Well maybe you should get to know this Leo guy better.”

You turned around, eyes narrowing into a withering glare. “Seunghee, stop it. I’m trying to figure out how to talk to Josh, not destroy our relationship.”

Seunghee backed off, reluctantly standing up and holding her hands out in defeat. “Okay, okay, I’m just saying that, it’s not fair for you to be ignored either.”

You stayed silent that time, fingers pausing slightly over the keys as you pondered her statement. You readjusted your glasses, tucking another strand of hair behind your ear. 

“Like, when was the last time the two of you even called?”

When was the last time you heard Joshua’s voice? Or held each other? You were even beginning to forget the features of his face: the curve of his nose, the plush of his lips were all fading away. 

Your heart sunk in your chest, “I’m not even sure anymore.”

🟊 🟊 🟊 🟊 🟊

You started to prepare dinner, taking out your ingredients out of the refrigerator meticulously in an organized fashion, a complete contrast to your actual state of mind. Your head was too wrapped up in your own thoughts to even concentrate on the vegetables being laid out in front of you. Scenarios upon scenarios filled your brain to the brim, until the stress and anxiety bubbled over; your hands shook while holding the knife when thinking about how to explain to Joshua about Leo and your stomach cramped at the mere thought of Joshua’s facial expression. Bringing down the knife onto the cutting board, you rapidly finished preparing your ingredients.

The dial tone of your phone rang through the sound of the kitchen machinery, the sound echoing through the empty apartment. You quickly scooped up some of the fried rice into a porcelain white bowl, setting it down on the countertop along with your eating utensils. 

Shakily, you pressed “accept” on the screen, Joshua’s face popping up within seconds adorning a wide smile and shiny crescent eyes full of happiness.

Your heart dropped to your stomach and suddenly you felt a rush of light-headedness.

“Y/N! I’ve missed you so much, it’s so good to see your face again,” he said softly, fond adoration present in his voice.

You nodded shallowly, poking at the rice grains with your chopsticks absentmindedly. “I’ve missed you too,” you mumbled in a lackadaisical manner, your eyes refusing to meet him.

“Y/N?” Joshua trailed off, a confused look on his face with flashes of hurt present in his eyes. “Is there something bothering you?”

You swallowed roughly, fingers roughly gripping onto your chopsticks. 

Just spit it out, do it, do it, do it now-

“I-I don’t think I can do this anymore.”

Silence. Dead, immovable silence. Your heart stopped beating and it felt like your ears were on fire, taking in every movement of sound. 

Taking a deep breath, you looked up briefly to assess the damage, but it was like the screen was frozen: Joshua’s facial expression was frozen, but his eyes were devoid of the smile from before. For a moment, you were scared that the connection had timed out and that you wouldn’t have the courage to repeat your statement. Then you noticed the slight trembling of his pink lips, frail and shy like blush flower petals.

“You don’t mean that,” he managed out in a spluttering breath, a fake smile plastered onto his face. 

You shook your head, voice a little louder this time, “I want to break up, Joshua.” 

Your veins were on fire and your vision was constricted to just the phone screen. It was like a tsunami of pent up emotions, sadness, anger, loneliness, were rushing to shore, spilling out of your mouth in a single sentence. 

Joshua repeated your gesture, shaking his head rapidly. His head tipped down in a mess of hair so you couldn’t see his face. “You said that the distance didn’t matter, that you were still mine! I thought-I thought we were fine together.” 

Joshua’s voice broke at the end. You noticed the slight heaving of his shoulders and chest and the quiet sniffles of his tears.

Taking a deep breath to control your nerves, you firmly rebuffed him, “I thought differently back then. We’re both reaching our peaks in our careers, I don’t want us to get in the way of both of our dreams.”

You could see Joshua trying to calm down his rapid breathing, a hand coming up to wipe the shimmering droplets off his cheeks. 

“Did-did I do something wrong?” he stammered. “I don’t want to give up on us, Y/N. Can you just explain yourself a little bit? Just a little. Whatever it is, I’m sure we can figure it out, together.”

You took another deep breath in, letting your eyelids fall shut for a moment. After a couple beats of silence, you brusquely answered him, “I’m sorry, Josh. I’m really tired, I don’t want to come home to a silent house, or go to bed by myself waiting for you. I’m tired and I’m also lonely. These once a week phone calls just aren’t enough for me, and I know that you’re busy, I understand that. I just don’t think I can wait for you anymore. The group is doing super well overseas, and I would never want you to have to choose between your career and me.” 

You stopped for a moment to contemplate your next words. Joshua was silent and unmoving except for the slight shudders of sobs and fluttering of his eyelashes. When he didn’t respond, you continued, driving your next words deep into Joshua’s flesh and skull. “I’m choosing for you, for us. I’m choosing to let you go.” 

Your words rung in the silence between the two of you, in the background of your side of the screen, you could hear the slight hum of the lights and the city bustle on loop outside. Contrary to you, Joshua heard nothing but your words replaying in his mind in his empty hotel room. He had asked the other members to leave since he wanted the call to be private and more meaningful. Now, alone, his mind had tuned out from reality, feeling slightly dizzy from the sudden rush of emotions: sadness, despair, hopelessness. He swallowed, his dry throat protesting from the harshness, but refused to take a sip of water from the bottle in front of him. 

“Josh? Are you still there?” you asked gently, worry creeping into your voice.

“Yeah,” he mumbled. He grabbed a tissue to dry his tears. “I’m tired, Y/N. I’m going to hang up now and go to sleep.”

“Okay…” you hesitantly agreed, “Sleep well, Joshua.”

“I will.”

And then he hung up, collapsing into the armchair in wracking, heartbreaking sobs.

🟊 🟊 🟊 🟊 🟊

“Wait, what? What do you mean Y/N broke up with you?”

Joshua groaned at Jeonghan’s incredulous tone, covering his face with the hotel pillow, the white covering crinkled and stained from his tears. Digging his face deeper, Joshua didn’t even know where to begin. It was as if the more he tried to understand you, the more he grew entangled in his never-ending web of questions. 

“She said she was doing it for me,” he mumbled into the pillow. Joshua turned so he was facing Jeonghan, arms gripping the cushion to his chest. “And the worst part is that I don’t even know this was coming.” He sat up, legs crossed, to look at Jeonghan through puffy, red eyes. “Y/N was probably thinking about this for weeks and I didn’t even know. And I didn’t even call her for two weeks.” A tear slipped off the bridge of his nose, little droplets darkening the sheets. “I was hurting her all this time and I didn’t even know,” he sniffled.

Jeonghan sighed and slung an arm around his best friend, hugging him close to his body as Joshua cried his eyes out, another wave of sobs wracking his frame.

Jeonghan patted Joshua’s back while listening to the sobs of the other male, letting his arm hang limp around him. “I don’t understand either. Y/N seemed fine when you guys were calling each other, something must’ve happened for her to make this decision so abruptly.”

His sobs died down as Joshua tried to catch his breath. He looked up, “What do you mean?”

Jeonghan exhaled, bringing up one hand to ruffle through his hair. “I don’t know man, I think you two have to talk though. Face to face. It’s not fair for her to break up with you through a call, you know, closure and stuff.”

Joshua nodded along, slowly drying his tears. He reached over for a tissue, blowing hard and throwing it into the trash bin. He stared at the blank sheets before saying determinedly, “Yeah, you’re right. I need to talk to her face to face.”

🟊 🟊 🟊 🟊 🟊

The second the members left the airplane, stepping out into the airport lobby, Joshua pulled out his phone, fingers flying over the keys in a text message. “Hey Y/N, I’m home...” He paused, thoughts whirling in his head, thumb hovering over the send button.

“Shua!”

Joshua glanced up to see the members standing a few steps before him, all of them adorning confused, exhausted expressions, some annoyed, some indifferent to his aloofness.

He quickly tucked his phone back into his back pocket, taking quick strides to reach the other boys.

“Hey man, you okay?” Mingyu muttered under his breath as Joshua caught up to him.

“I’m fine,” he responded nonchalantly, walking closer to Jeonghan in an attempt to distance himself from the other members. Jeonghan slung an arm around Joshua, trying to comfort him in any way possible. “I’m fine,” Joshua repeated firmly.

The car ride to the dorms was silent, only the softness of snores and intakes of breath could be heard in the van. Most of the members were either sleeping or keeping to themselves after the long and exhausting Asia SEVENTEEN tour. Joshua felt immense guilt and blame for the breakup; he blamed himself, essentially, for abandoning you and for choosing his career over you. 

Now, as he looked out of the rain splattered window, Joshua understood the suffocation you felt when he was gone. The guilt gripped at his heart, making it harder for him to breathe. 

By the time they had all arrived back in the dorms it was already evening, the sky turning a beautiful swirl of pink cotton candy clouds and blue gray.

Pink represented his love for you, ever so light and present, fluffy wisps drifting into nothingness. 

Gray represented his sadness, his anger for you. He could never bring himself to hate you though, Joshua knew that you must have had a reason.

So he waits. Waits for you to come back to him, to explain to him.

[vpyre]

The Geek Division

Grelle was annoyed. She generally was these days, but this time there was a tangible reason. Why on earth did she need to experience “the science side of Grim Reaper Dispatch” when they knew full well that she had no interest in academics and would rather be out learning something useful like how to collect souls? She was in Retrieval training for christ's sake. To hell with “having an understanding and appreciation for all branches of the Dispatch”. It was just pointless. Pointless and stupid and just another thing for her to suffer through. She sighed and tapped her fingers against one of the black lab tables. Beakers and vials bubbled and hissed in the back of the room, barely audible over the clamor of the new trainees as they filed in and found seats with their new friends. No one sat with her. She was left alone to sulk, not that she particularly cared. They were all the same anyway; afraid of her, unnerved by her, rude to her. She would tell them all to drop dead, but it was a bit too late for that.

When everyone had found a seat, four reapers in white lab coats made their way to the front of the room, and one of them stepped forward. As soon as the first word left his mouth, Grelle knew she'd be dying of boredom ten minutes in, if that. Pointless. What a waste of time. As her gaze settled on the view through the long window on the other side of the room, she propped her chin on her fist and twirled a strand of her short hair around her finger. I wish it was longer. To my knees even! I’d be gorgeous if I grew it out; and then maybe they would see me the way I really am. Her thoughts continued drifting wistfully, like a cardinal’s feathers in a breeze.

"Hiya."

Grelle started and whipped around so hard she almost fell out of her chair. Sitting in the previously empty seat beside her was another man in a lab coat, though he was decidedly more rumpled than the other scientists. Where their clothes and hair were tidy and their demeanor formal, his dark hair stuck out in odd places and he was slouching in his seat. When she saw the open, laid-back friendliness on his face, she felt some of her tension evaporate as her mind processed that he wasn't there to harass her like the others. But still... why is he talking to me?

"My name's Othello. What's yours, my dear new reaper?" he asked. She didn't see a single hint of negativity or ulterior motives in his face, so she replied,

"Grelle Sutcliff. From the Retrieval Division." If he was really genuine in his friendliness, she couldn't see the harm in making conversation to pass the time.

"Good to meet you! Now, what're your pronouns, Dear Grelle?"

What? She blinked, trying not to let her surprise show. No one had ever asked her that before; they all just assumed. She couldn't blame them, not really. She'd never met someone like her, never met someone who was aware of anything other than what the societal norm was. But somehow he knew. Why did he know? Reapers must really be ahead of their time, or at least this one was. He seemed to have picked up on her line of thinking when she didn't respond right away, so he continued,

"I've seen you around, so I noticed that you carry yourself a certain way and that you don't appear to like being referred to as male. I wanted to make sure I wasn't assuming anything, 'cos you seem like an interesting person to know."

It was the sincerity in his voice that stifled the last of her apprehension. She relaxed and murmured,

"I... I'm a woman. And thank you. Y'know, for asking. It isn't often that people are this considerate."

"No need to thank me, it should just be common decency. Anywho, it doesn't look like you're particularly enjoying the forensics lecture." Before she could finish stuttering out a defensive response, he waved his hand in a dismissive gesture. "Don't worry, I'm not gonna tattle on you. I'd be in the same boat if I had to visit the retrieval division, seeing as I'm physically incompetent and nothing fascinates me more than science." There were sudden rustles of movement around them as the instructors shooed everyone out of the room for a demonstration. Grelle sighed and stood up to follow,

"Well, it was nice to meet you, but-" a hand on her arm gave her pause. "What?" She turned to look at the other reaper, and he mouthed,

"Come with me!" She hesitated for a moment, deliberating. Then she shrugged. She had nothing better to do; plus he was considerate and kind, which was more than she could say for anyone else as far as she was concerned, so she nodded, relief and mischievous curiosity bubbling up and lifting her spirits. Stifling a grin, she followed him as they scurried through the lab and away from the group, quietly slipping out into the corridor.

She glanced around furtively and asked, "What are we doing?” as he tugged her onward through the stark white halls.

”Alleviating your boredom. You looked like you were about to snap and smash some of those beakers, so I thought I’d save you from the inevitable cleanup duty punishment. And like I said, you seem like an interesting person to know. Plus, I want to show you my lab. Forensics will never interest you if those stuffed shirts are the ones talking. They don’t ever say anything interesting. They all think I’m ‘eccentric’ just cos I’m not satisfied with their dull science; and I very well may be, but at least I’m not boring.” She rolled her eyes, but she couldn't deny that listening to this geek talk was infinitely more entertaining than sitting in that stuffy lab, listening to those stuffy scientists regaling her with their stuffy lecture.

His lab wasn't far, thank god. As much as she hated the Dispatch and its rules, she didn't want to get caught and written up, not when she was doing so well in her retrieval training. They stopped at a plain wooden door in the middle of the hall. It was unremarkable, but from what she could already tell about Othello himself, it was sure to be more interesting on the inside. He unlocked the door and they entered. What she saw was unexpected, but she had expected it to be unexpected, so really it wasn't all that surprising. Where the other lab was neat and orderly, equipment organized and surfaces uncluttered, his looked like a tornado had torn through it. Beakers and papers were scattered across all available tables and counters, almost completely obscuring every horizontal surface. There were science-y odds and ends everywhere. On top of that, there was a huge pile of unrecognizable mechanical parts, metal, and machinery on the floor in the back of the room (strangely enough, the floor was clean and absent of any other clutter).

"What on earth is that thing?" Grelle asked, leaning on a table and gesturing to the back of the room. She hoped he wouldn't get all technical about it; she didn't understand these sorts of things, nor did she want to, but she couldn't help feeling curious.

"It's a dynamo, a generator; or, rather, it will be. I'm still working on it. Humans probably won't have it for the next hundred years or so." He strode over to the desk near the metal thing -the generator- and started digging through the papers. Despite the mess he seemed to know exactly where to find what he needed, emerging a moment later with a diagram, which he waved around enthusiastically, excitement shining in his eyes. "It converts AC into DC using a commutator, which is a set of rotating switch contacts on the armature shaft that reverse the connection of the armature winding to the circuit with every 180 degree rotation, creating a-"

She shook her head and cut in, waving a hand, "Wait wait wait wait. I don't speak geek; mind translating that to English?"

"Essentially, it just generates energy in the form of electricity. But there's so much more to it than that! Lemme show you the diagram." He motioned her over to the desk. Pointing out parts as he spoke, he explained what each one did, how it worked, and how they fit together. When he finished rambling about the generator, he moved on to some of the other blueprints and formulas scattered throughout the room as well as some of the chemical vials sitting in their various nooks and crannies. She didn't understand a word that came out of his mouth, but his enthusiasm was contagious; though she tried to act aloof, she found herself smiling and nodding along as he spouted scientific gibberish. It was entertaining just to watch him gush about it all, and honestly kinda endearing. It certainly took her mind off of her bitter thoughts. Even with the difference in interests, she was just glad to be around someone who seemed to enjoy her company and who didn't harbor any negativity towards her. Someone who went out of his way to cheer her up. Someone who trusted her not to lash out at him. Someone who was thoughtful enough to ask about her feelings and respectful enough to listen to, then act on her answer.

Still, she wondered. "Why did you come talk to me, y'know, back in the other lab? Most reapers would rather avoid me."

He shrugged and put down his test tube. "You just seemed lonely. Not only at that moment, but almost every time I saw you around. To other reapers, your loneliness and hurt might come across as anger, but that's just 'cos they don't bother trying to understand you. Honestly! You'd think they'd have no trouble understanding on some level; after all, we all got here the same way, but some people just don't seem to have it in them to be sympathetic anymore. I make a point of doing things others are afraid of doing, which too often includes being a decent person. On top of that, you're just a very interesting woman, and I like interesting people. Besides, you're really tough and I'm physically weak, so if I stick with you no one will dare mess with me, ha ha!"

Grelle rolled her eyes, but she chuckled a bit all the same. Truth be told, she genuinely appreciated this reaper, someone she had just met, for speaking so openly and kindly. He certainly was eccentric, but he made that a good thing. He continued on as if nothing had happened, and she relaxed in the casually comfortable atmosphere.

All too soon, she heard the trainee crowd walk past Othello's lab, instructors herding them back from the forensics tour. To her surprise, she found that she wanted to stay and simply listen to Othello rave about his beloved science, even though it just went in one ear and out the other for her. She turned to bid him farewell.

"I'm going to head back before I get us in trouble. It was a pleasure to meet you, even if you are a huge geek. And just... thank you. For going out of your way to make me feel more welcome. I may not like or understand science, but if you have to talk about that sort of thing, I suppose I'll humor you and listen."

He smiled a bit and shrugged. "Anytime. And I guess it's too much to hope that I've piqued your interest in forensics?"

"Yes. I'll leave that to you geeks." She shook her head in mock exasperation, but as she walked away, she smiled. Just a bit.

[lucdrawsthings]

you know what's a good Sylvain song? Masked bitcH is a good Sylvain song.

(image description: Art of Sylvain Jose Gautier, styled after the main illustration of Masked bitcH by Giga-P. Sylvain, shirt open and one boot gone, lays looking forward with a sultry yet empty expression, smudged lipstick around his mouth. Beside him is the same image of himself but rotated 180 degrees, and his eyes are covered by a blue blindfold. The blindfolded Sylvain's side has a bright magenta background with white hearts, while the seeing Sylvain's side is bright blue with black hearts.)